


The New Apprentice

by pippinpie



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-09
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-19 21:37:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4761899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pippinpie/pseuds/pippinpie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fourteen year old Gilan stalks Halt through the forest. He is determined to become a Ranger's apprentice. A story about Gilan during his years as an apprentice to Halt. Loosely based off the descriptions in the Burning Bridge and the Ruins of Gorlan. The Ranger coffee obsession explained.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Gilan looked around cautiously, making sure he was not being followed. He couldn't risk being seen, not now that he was so close to his goal. When he saw that there was nobody following him he took one slow step forward, managing to step on a twig. In the silence of the forest it might as well have been a gunshot. Even so, the small man fifty metres in front of him did not appear to notice. Wincing at the noise, Gilan took another step forward, narrowly avoiding another dry twig. Becoming more confident he moved stealthily to the cover of another tree. He had been travelling like this for two days now, following the Ranger from his home with a small pack of provisions and his sword.

Ever since his first encounter with a Ranger it had been his dream to become part of their ranks. He had asked his father, Sir David, to go with the Ranger Halt and learn the skills of a Ranger but his father had laughed and said he would be much better suited to a knight's life. And so he had decided to go anyway and follow his dreams instead of following his father's orders. He had never been the obedient sort. So, here he was now, stalking a Ranger through the forest. He smirked as he thought about what a great job he was doing. Halt had not noticed him so he must be better at this Ranger business than he thought. It was around noon and the Ranger seemed to have stopped for a break.

Gilan approached the man in front of him slowly and cautiously. The Ranger was sitting next to a stream in the midst of the forest, eating his noon meal. Gilan was about ten metres away from him. When Gilan was right behind the man, he stood up, spun around and grabbed Gilan by the arm. Gilan, who was caught off guard by the Ranger's sudden movement, was thrown into the calm waters of the stream. Water drenched his clothes and trickled down his fair hair. Great, Gilan thought to himself, I'm wet now!

"What can I do for you, young man?" The Ranger Halt said in a calm voice.

Gilan, still staring at the Ranger in awe, stood up. "Well, I w-wanted to k-know, uhhhh, I-I wanted to know if y-you would p-possibly have me for an apprentice?" He said nervously, turning the statement into a question at the last second.

Halt stood thinking for a moment "Perhaps," he said at last, "I could use one of those. And you show some promise. Come and join me."

Gilan's eyes widened considerably at that in his shock "W-what, you don't mean to send me home? You want me to j-join you?"

"Yes, yes I would. Don't just stand there in the middle of the stream!" Halt glanced at Gilan's wet clothes meaningfully.

Gilan glanced down at his drenched clothing and sighed. It would appear that he would be spending the rest of the day in great discomfort. He stepped out of the stream and took off his boots, emptying the water from them into the stream. And they were his favourite boots too. Just my luck Gilan thought to himself bitterly. But then he thought of the fact that he had just been accepted as an apprentice to a Ranger and his mood brightened considerably. He put his boots back on his feet and stood awkwardly in front of Halt, who had returned to his seat on the forest floor.

"Sit, boy, do you not know what 'come join me' means?" Said the Ranger, raising an eyebrow.

Gilan hurriedly sat across from Halt, unsure of what he should do. So he ended up just staring at Halt, the Ranger staring back. This lasted for about ten minutes before Gilan asked what he should do.

"Eat. Or at least stop staring at me, it's beginning to get on my nerves." Halt stood up as he was finished with his break. When Gilan made no move to follow he turned around with an eyebrow raised, "Coming? Or do you no longer desire to be my apprentice?"

At that Gilan shot up off the ground and took off at a sprint to catch up to the shorter man.

When Gilan had finally caught up with Halt he was looking at the man with open curiosity. It was one of the few times he had been so close to a Ranger. The other few times, he had been with his father and thought it was quite unwise to study the Ranger with his father breathing down his neck. However, now that his father was not there, it was a different story altogether.

"Are you quite done with staring at me? I'm sure I cannot be that attractive." Halt spun around and looked at the boy with a raised eyebrow. He glanced at Gilan's still wet clothing. "And you certainly don't look too good yourself."

Gilan looked down at himself, and, realising that the Ranger was probably right, began to blush furiously. He kept his eyes downcast, staring intently at his feet.

"That's better! Just stay like that." Halt said, thankful for the boy's attention being diverted elsewhere.

Gilan, suddenly aware that he had no idea where they were headed, suddenly asked "Where are we going? And how long until we get there?"

Halt, who had been exulting in the silence, groaned softly "We are headed for Castle Redmont, and we are about two days away." He said matter-of-factly.

"And when do I we start my training?"

Halt glanced at him "When we arrive at Redmont. But first I need to know about you. What are your strengths, what are your weaknesses, what your name is, how old you are, whether or not you plan to continue training with that sword of yours. That sort of thing." As he saw Gilan's mouth open to reply, he said "No, don't tell me now. We have the whole journey to discuss this. Right now, we had better get moving."

With that, Halt turned away from the boy and continued the walk. Gilan took a deep breath and followed after him.

When they stopped for the night, Halt watched Gilan curiously. The boy had changed out of his damp clothing into dry clothes. His hair had also dried and he had tied it back from his face, a few lose strands escaping now. Admittedly, his hair was not too long, the blond strands only falling halfway to his shoulders. Though he still tied it all the same. Right now, he was staring into the depths of the fire, thinking over whether or not he had made the right decision in coming here.

"So, boy, what's your name?" asked Halt, knowing full well who it was.

Gilan looked up at the sudden sound of Halt's voice. Ha had begun to grow accustomed to the silence. "Gilan, sir. Second eldest son of Battlemaster David of Caraway Fief."

"And does your father know you're here?" Halt asked.

"No, I came without his permission. He wanted me to remain at Caraway, said that I am more suited to a knight's life."

"He really does support your decision."

"And how would you know that, sir?"

"What would you say if I told you I asked him to deny you leave as a sort of test? To see whether or not you had the guts to come after me. To see if you have what it takes to become a ranger."

"And do I? Do I have what it takes to become a Ranger?

"Well," said Halt thoughtfully, "that remains to be seen."


	2. Chapter One: In which the fun really begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halt and Gilan arrive at Redmont

It took them two days to reach Castle Redmont, just as Halt had predicted. When they finally got there, Gilan was surprised when Halt did not go to the castle. They ended up at a small cabin on the border of the forest instead.

"Is this where you live?" Gilan asked Halt softly

"Yes, believe it or not it is. Were you expecting something more luxurious? I'm sorry if my humble home is too plain for the likes of you." Halt said with an edge to his voice.

"No, no it's fine. I was just surprised you did not live up at the castle." Gilan said quickly, trying to clear things up with his new master.

"How much exactly do you know about Rangers, Gilan? Rangers do not live in castles." Halt said with a raised eyebrow and an amused tone to his voice.

Gilan blushed and tilted his head ever so slightly so that his hair hid his face ."Oh, I didn't know" he muttered under his breath.

Halt stared at him. "What was that?"

Gilan looked up quickly, regaining his composure. "Nothing"

"It was something. I wasn't just imagining a voice. Now, what did you say."

"I said 'I didn't know that'."

Halt turned around and opened the door to the cabin.

When Gilan stepped inside he was not too surprised by what he saw. The cabin was quite plain; a table, chairs, fireplace, stove and kitchen bench. There were two doors leading off from the main room. Gilan stood uncertainly on the threshold unsure of what to do. Halt had wandered inside and dumped his pack on the table. He sank into one of the surrounding chairs and looked up at Gilan.

"Well, are you going to come in, boy, or are you just going to continue standing there all day?" Halt asked Gilan, raising his eyebrow yet again. Gilan guessed that must be his favourite expression. Gilan stepped forward and closed the door. He stood near the table. "Thank-you for joining me. That room on the left will be yours, feel free to unpack your stuff. After you are unpacked come back out here for further instructions."

"Yes sir." Gilan said as he moved towards the door on the left.

Gilan opened the door to his new room. It was smaller than his room back at Caraway, but that was to be expected. He stepped into the room and closed the door, looking around. He saw that the room was quite bare. There was a small bed next to a window (there were curtains, of course, that goes without saying), a wardrobe for his clothes and a small table with a mirror next to the bed. He was not shocked at the lack of furnishing and was glad he had a window. He removed the sword and scabbard from his belt, placing it on the table. He then placed his pack on the bed and took out his spare clothing that he had brought with him and shoved them into the wardrobe. He stood for a moment and surveyed his surroundings yet again to make sure he had not missed anything. There was nothing out of place and nothing had magically appeared in the room while he had been unceremoniously shoving his clothes into the wardrobe. He glanced into the mirror, making sure he looked presentable before he went back out to the main room.

By the time he was back out Halt was sitting in his chair with a mug of coffee. It seemed to Gilan that the Ranger lived on coffee alone and could not survive without it. Even on the journey from Caraway to Redmont Halt had drunk coffee every time they stopped for a meal and would sometimes offer some to Gilan. Gilan had never drunk much coffee before leaving Caraway and in the last few days he had had more coffee than he had in the space of three days in any other part of his life.

"Finally come to join me then?" Halt asked as Gilan entered, "It took you long enough!"

"And I missed you too." Gilan said in reply.

"You did? How touching!"

"And what about you? You didn't miss me, then?"

"Don't be silly, of course I didn't miss you. Now, back to business." With that Halt placed his coffee on the table and stared up at Gilan expectantly. Gilan stared back at him questioningly. They stared at each other for a while, each challenging the other to drop their gaze. Gilan finally averted his eyes and said, "As you were saying."

Halt raised his eyebrow and took a sip of coffee. "Ah yes, I was speaking, wasn't I. The business I was speaking of is what to do with you."

Gilan looked up once again. "Well, for a start you could perhaps tell me a bit about what Rangers do, and then perhaps teach me some of their skills." Gilan suggested

Halt stared at him, more or less decided on what Gilan was going to be doing for the next few weeks. "Boy, you are not a Ranger yet and I am not sure I can trust you with this until you prove your worth. But, I can tell you what Ranger's Apprentices do. A thing you will surely love; housework."

Gilan groaned. "Are you kidding me? I walked halfway across Araluen just to do your housework?"

"No, I am not 'kidding' you. Do you see any servants here, boy? No, I didn't think so. This is not, as you stated earlier today, a castle. We have to manage our own house and what do you think that means?" Halt paused and took a sip of coffee. "Well?"

"It means we have to do all the work; clean and cook as well as carry on with training and taking care of the kingdom."

"Yes, that's right. Now, why don't we start with something simple. We will probably be needing a refill of the water tank so why don't we get on with that? Bucket outside the door near the tank, stream a little way off into the forest. You should be able to find your way, now chop, chop." Halt turned away to some papers, sipping his coffee and leaning back in the chair.

Gilan stared at him skeptically but soon regained his composure. He sighed to himself and pushed the sleeves of his shirt up. He sensed that today was going to be a long day.

A couple of hours later (after Gilan had scrubbed and swept the floor, chopped wood for the fire, washed the pots twice as Halt thought them to be unsatisfactory the first time, polished boots and dusted the furniture) they sat down to supper, Gilan exhausted from his day of labour and Halt relaxed and in high spirits at seeing his new apprentice in such a state as all Rangers do. Thankfully, Gilan thought, he had not had to cook supper and Halt had done something useful while he was cleaning. They ate in silence, Gilan thinking about what question to ask Halt first and the Ranger savouring the silence.

"Halt." Gilan said in a neutral tone of voice. Halt looked up, wincing slightly at the break in the silence. "Can I ask you a question?"

Halt sighed though the corners of his mouth twitched up in the ghost of a smile "You already did."

"Can I ask you another one?"

"You just did."

Gilan groaned, Halt could be a pain in the neck when he wanted to be (which was almost always) "You know what I mean."

Halt sighed, "Yes go on."

"Why do you drink so much coffee?"

Of all the questions that Gilan could ask, Halt had not been expecting this one. "You want to know why I drink so much coffee?"

Gilan nodded and stared at Halt wide eyed, waiting for the answer.

"Well, for a start it tastes nice." At this Gilan made a face and Halt rolled his eyes. "Don't pull that face, you will eventually develop a taste for it. Anyway, it tastes nice and it stimulates the brain. This means it keeps you alert and that is the sort of thing a Ranger needs to be. It helps you to get through a day when you are tired or to read through a large pile of boring papers." With that Halt gestured towards the neat stack of papers on a nearby chair. "In short it is used to stimulate my brain."

"Do all Rangers drink it?"

"Most Rangers do, it is a sort of custom for Rangers to drink coffee. I would almost go as far as to say ritual."

Gilan nodded thoughtfully as he spooned more food into his mouth. "Is that going to be a part of my training? 'Learning to love coffee'?" He asked with his mouth full.

"It could well be if you don't have a taste for it now, which, going by the face you were pulling earlier, I would say you do not have."

Gilan nodded again. "How do you plan on going about getting me to enjoy drinking coffee?"

At that Halt yet again raised his eyebrow (Gilan noted that it was always his right eyebrow). "A master of his art never reveals all his secrets."

"But I may have apprentices someday, how will I know how to go about getting them to like coffee?"

"You will have to work that out for yourself. Goodnight." The smaller man pushed back from the table and entered the room on the right.


	3. Chapter Two: In which Gilan learns to love coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The coffee secret revelaed

Gilan woke up to the sun streaming through the window and into his eyes. He crawled down under his covers, pulling them up over his head to protect his eyes from the light (and so he could try to get to sleep again). It didn't work. The light shone through his bedsheets and, with a sigh, he decided it was no use just lying there and eventually emerged from under the sheets. A few minutes later he got up from the bed and pulled on a shirt and breeches. He then picked up the small mirror from off the table and looked at his reflection, his eyes widening at what he saw. He had a serious case of bed head. And that is not something he wanted. Gilan ran his fingers through his hair trying to brush out the tangles and straighten it out. Instead his fingers got stuck halfway through. Sighing, Gilan dropped the mirror carelessly onto the bed and fell to the floor, burying his face in his hands defeated. He sat there for a few minutes, calming himself; this was not the end of the world, he would fix it later. He stood and begun humming a tune to put himself into a cheerful mood. He couldn't let this get him down, not tody. Today was hopefully the day that he would start his training as a Ranger (for real this time).

When he entered the kitchen/dining/living room Halt was in the process of making coffee.

"Good morning Gilan, it's god to see you up so bright and early." Halt said without turning around, obviously having heard Gilan slam his door shut when he had emerged from the bedroom.

"Morning Halt." Gilan said supressing the urge to yawn. He sat down, resting his head on the table. He shut his eyes for a minute, recovering from the strenuous effort it had taken for him to get from the bed to the table.

"Are you alright, you're acting as if you just climbed a mountain." Halt said, raising an eyebrow at his young apprentice.

"Yes Halt, I'm fine. Just give me a second." Gilan said without raising his head. After a few seconds he raised his head to look at Halt. "Good to see you. What have you got planned for today?"

Halt poured two cups of coffee and made his way to the table. He sat across from Gilan, placing one cup in front of him and the other in front of Gilan. Gilan stared at the coffee with distaste. "Today you will be developing a taste for coffee. I think it will be better to start on this earlier rather than later. You may not like coffee now, but I guarantee that by the end of your apprenticeship you will not be able to go a day without it."

Gilan shuddered and looked into the depths of the steaming brown liquid in the mug. "A long day then?"

"For you yes."

"Let's get it over with then." Gilan put his held the mug with his left hand and brought it up to his mouth. "Cheers" he said to Halt before he took a long sip of the coffee. The bitter taste filled his mouth and made him want to retch. He resisted the urge, settling for a grimace. When he finally swallowed the first mouthful he pushed the coffee mug away from him, coughing at the foul taste. "How can you even stand to drink that, Halt? Why do I even need to drink it, it's not like it's an important Ranger skill or anything."

Halt raised an eyebrow at his apprentice and clasped his hands before him on the table. "I thought I had already explained it to you. It is Ranger tradition for all members of the Corps to drink coffee. It has benefits for our work too such as keeping us focused, on task and giving us strength. You obviously cannot keep on task or focus so that is what coffee is for. Now, drink."

Gilan glared at Halt and yet again raised the cup to his lips. He took a smaller sip this time and swallowed quickly. There was still a bitter aftertaste but it was not as bad in smaller quantities. He made a face. "It's too bitter. I don't think I can drink it all."

"Mix honey in with it. It will make it sweeter."

Gilan stood up and moved to the cupboard. Inside there were assorted jars and pots. He looked inside a few and brought out the honey. He moved back to the table, grabbing a spoon on the way past. He spooned a fair portion of honey into the coffee and stirred it in with the spoon. He raised the cup to his lips and took yet another sip. He could feel Halt's eyes on him. He swallowed and was surprised at the pleasant aftertaste. It still had a bitterness too it, but a pleasant sort of bitterness. He looked at the mug, shrugged and finished it off. He looked back up to Halt after he was done. "Honey. Great idea." He said smiling.

Halt scowled at him "Fix that hair of yours, it looks as if we have a lot of housework to do."

Gilan got out of his seat and sighed, sensing a long day of doing everything while Halt sat back, relaxed and enjoyed watching Gilan suffer. He headed into his room to fix his appearance.


	4. Chapter Three: In which Gilan fires his first arrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halt tutors Gilan in the art of archery

After a couple of weeks of doing Halt's housework and coffee-drinking lessons (which Gilan did not find nearly as torturous now as he had at first), Halt deemed that Gilan was ready to learn the art of archery. So, one morning after breakfast he took the boy outside the cabin and they walked to a clearing in the woods where Halt had set up archery targets. Upon seeing these Gilan stared at his master with wide eyes.

"Are you going to teach me archery today, Halt? After my experience with the last few weeks, I thought that you Rangers only ever lounged around doing nothing."

Halt looked at his apprentice sharply with an eyebrow raised at the last part of that. Gilan, not seeming to care, just laughed at Halt's expression. The Ranger lifted his other eyebrow at Gilan's reaction. This just made his apprentice laugh even more. In between uncontrollable bursts of laughter Gilan managed to say; "Your face… always that expression… looks ridiculous with two eyebrows raised… if you could see". When he finally composed himself he looked up to see Halt wearing exactly the same expression. He failed to hold his composure and burst out laughing again. Halt, who had had quite enough of his apprentice, cuffed the boy on the back of the head. The laughter stopped.

"Ok, do you actually want to learn how to shoot? Because if you keep this up, I can always just take you back to Carraway."

"Sorry" Gilan said, shifting uncomfortably under Halt's gaze.

Halt waited a few moments before turning around. He dropped both the bows he had been carrying to the ground and unslung the quiver of arrows from his shoulder. "Now, Gilan. Have you ever used a bow before?"

"No."

"Have you any idea how to use one."

"A vague idea. You hold the bow, attach an arrow to the string, draw back and release."

"Vague; that's one way to put it, yes. I call it the basics."

"I might not know how to use a bow properly, but I have been training with the sword for the majority of my life."

"The sword is a weapon used for close combat. Let us say that your opponent was standing one hundred meters away from you equipped with bow and quiver. You have a sword. Who wins? Who dies?"

"Let's just say it's close combat. What good will a bow do you then?"

"None. But there are other ways to kill. Back to you standing one hundred metres from your opponent, who is armed with a bow. You on the other hand, are armed with a sword."

"I guess I would die wishing I had learnt how to use a bow." Gilan said with a rueful grin.

"I guess so too. Pick up the bow."

Gilan picked up the bow and examined it. Unlike a normal longbow, this bow was smaller with two curves that met up at the centre instead of one continuous curve. He looked back up at Halt, waiting for further instructions. Halt, realising he had his apprentices' attention, nocked an arrow onto the bowstring, drew back in one fluid motion and fired, having another arrow nocked onto the bowstring within seconds. Gilan looked over at the targets. The arrow had hit the exact centre of the nearest target.

"Now you try." Halt said, a grin creeping onto his face. When Gilan placed the arm guard on his right arm the grin instantly faded. Gilan stepped forward, copying Halt's stance. He pulled an arrow from the quiver, nocked it and drew the bowstring back. It was harder to draw than he had anticipated, so the movement was not as fluid as it should have been. He stood aiming for a couple of seconds and then released. The arrow flew through the air, hitting the outer edge of one of the targets.

"Impressive," Halt commented. A smile began to creep onto Gilan's face. "But there is room for improvement, a lot of improvement." The smile instantly faded from Gilan's face. Halt smiled to himself. "I noticed a few errors in the way you shoot. For a start, you pull back on the bowstring clumsily which reduces the overall power of the shot. Secondly, you tense up your muscles when aiming, which results in a clumsy release. But, most importantly, you pause for too long when aiming, which results in loss of power. A way to fix that last one is to aim while loading and drawing. But, today," Here he paused for dramatic effect. "We will be working on drawing back in one fluid motion."

Gilan sighed, this was going to be a long day.

For the rest of the day they worked on shooting, mainly focusing on improving Gilan's drawing technique. By the end of the training session, Gilan was becoming more relaxed with the initial draw back. His shots had more power so he was able to shoot at some of the further targets. As the day wore on, his aim became ever so slightly better, but was still quite far off the centre of the targets. The sun was setting by the time they had begun the walk home.

"You are doing well, Gilan. I'm sure that we can make a fine Ranger out of you yet." Halt said as they walked towards the cabin.

"I'm sure, with a little work." Gilan replied.

Halt laughed. "A little work? Don't get too far ahead of yourself, boy. It will take more than a little work."

Slightly embarrassed, Gilan changed the topic. "Are my shoulders supposed to hurt?"

"No, no they are not. But, given you don't do a lot of shooting, your muscles are not accustomed to the strain. They will probably ache for a couple of days, but the more shooting you do, the less your muscles will hurt."

Gilan groaned and Halt smiled. He was going to enjoy this. He was going to enjoy it very much.


	5. Chapter Four: In which Gilan undergoes his first test

That morning Halt woke him up bright and early. Over the past couple of weeks Gilan had been getting used to being woken at the crack of dawn but this… Being woken before dawn was not called for. What could possibly have caused Halt to wake him so early? (Believe it or not, Halt is not as heartless as he first seemed to Gilan).

Gilan lifted his head ever so slightly and glared at Halt. "What is it?" He mumbled incoherently.

Halt, raised an eyebrow, obviously not too impressed at his apprentice. "Your first test is today and I'd like it if you were prepared to leave nice and early." He replies walking out of the room to prepare some coffee. Gilan sighed and got out of bed, he saw no point in angering Halt any further (though, at this point he probably wasn't angry), and quickly pulled on some clean clothes.

By the time Gilan made his way out of his bedroom Halt was sitting in a chair sipping his coffee. Halt made a gesture to the bench where the pot of coffee was currently sitting. So Gilan, taking it as an invitation, poured himself some coffee and brought the pot over to the table. He had to admit, even though he was slightly annoyed at being woken up so early (given Halt had kept him up so late last night), he was quite curious as to what this was all about. Halt had mentioned a test. What sort of test would it be? How difficult would the test be? He seriously hoped it would not be too hard, not at this time in the morning. Maybe it was something to do with coffee?

As Gilan opened his mouth to ask a question Halt silenced him with a sigh. "No questions, you'll ruin the morning. Just let things unfold as they will." Halt said glancing at Gilan before returning to his coffee. Gilan just sighed and sipped at the coffee before making a face and adding more honey. He guessed it was only a matter of time before Halt told him what the test would be and no amount of questioning would make him open up before he decided the time was right. If anything these questions would make Halt keep his mouth shut out of sheer stubbornness.

Halt looked up from his coffee, "I'm sure you'll do well on this test. I really hope you do, but if you by any chance find you can't handle it, don't hesitate to ask for assistance, I won't think any less of you for doing so." Halt's dark eyes were full of concern , which Gilan found quite comforting. It was good to know that Halt cared for his wellbeing.

"Don't worry, I will. I don't want to die just yet, you know" Gilan said with a grin.

"Good, well get ready, we leave in half an hour." And with that, Halt downed the remainder of his coffee and went to collect his weapons.

It was an hour past dawn and Gilan still had next to no idea of what was happening. They had been riding north for the past half hour and Halt still hadn't told him what the test was. He thought perhaps the test was to see how long he could go without asking questions, and if that was right, he was going to crack very, very soon.

"Alright, we'll rest here a while. I'm sure you've been wondering where I'm taking you and what the test is." Halt paused, raising his eyebrow ever so slightly. As Gilan opened his mouth to reply that yes, he had of course been wondering where the hell Halt was taking him at the crack of dawn, when Halt began speaking again. "For your assessment today, you will be tracking down a group of bandits and I am taking you to their last known position. This will be a test of your logic, your combat skills and tracking skills. I wish you good luck. Any questions?"

Gilan's face paled. He was to track these bandits alone? Who the hell came up with this idea? He had barely started training, was Halt mad? He opened his mouth to respond. "Will these be real bandits that I'm hunting down, or as part of the test, is it just some sort of act thing?"

"Oh, no, they are real bandits, Gilan. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to handle them. Just remember your training." He paused to hand Gilan a map, "This is their last known location," Halt says, pointing to a location due north east to their current location. "I'll meet you there at noon tomorrow, good luck." Halt smiled at Gilan, which Gilan found calming.

"I think I can do this, should be easy as pie." Gilan said with a grin, not quite sure if he believed himself.

"Now don't be getting too egotistical, you're not that great." Halt said with a small smile.

After another hour of riding North-East, Gilan reached his destination. It wasn't a pretty sight.

As someone who had never seen a village after a sacking due to being born and raised in Caraway, a fairly safe area of Araluen, he was quite shocked. He had been expecting something bad, but not even his imagination could prepare him for the vile reality of the situation.

The village was just about burnt to the ground, the smell of death and burnt flesh still strong in the air. Half-burnt corpses littered the once lively town. He could taste the ash. The scenery wasn't really helped by the rain, which just seemed to make it all the more dramatic. In short, the whole scene made him want to vomit his guts up, but he didn't. Remember, you're a Ranger now, he thought to himself, be strong. He just wanted to be out of here as quickly as possible.

He began looking around. The quicker he picked up the trail, the quicker he could be out of here. He dragged on Blaze's reins, urging her to follow. Though she initially tried to pull away, she followed her master to inspect the ruin. He started his search long the outskirts of the ruin, as was logical. After about 15 minutes of looking he found the tracks of what seemed to be five or six horses leaving the scene. He had no doubt that these tracks were the correct ones, because seriously, who else would it have been?

He remounted Blaze and rode off in a Northerly direction, following the tracks of the bandits. How had he thought this would be hard? So far it was proving to be fairly easy, of course he was going to pass this test. There was no way he would fail! Gilan grinned to himself. This really was going to be easy as pie!

Halt had no doubt in his mind that Gilan would do well in this test. He had so far proved to be an excellent apprentice, with a good grasp for new concepts and above-average intelligence (even if at times he makes it difficult to tell). After only a very short while, Halt was already warming to him, feeling as though Gilan was the son he would never have, though he'd never admit it. The other Ranger's might think he'd gone soft in his old age (even if that were true, it'd do no good for them to know, now would it?). All in all, he was extremely proud of Gilan as an apprentice so far. And it could only get better, right?

He was on his way to retrieve Gilan's father, Sir David of Caraway Fief, Battlemaster of Araluen. Batllemaster David had specifically requested to see his son's progress and what better way to show him than to bring him along to his son's first test. He knew that David had been quite skeptical of his son becoming a Ranger, and he had only allowed it on the terms that his son would continue his training as a knight as a backup alternative just in case he failed as a Ranger. Little did he know how suited his son was to the Ranger life (well, besides the dislike of coffee, but that could be changed).

Halt could see David approaching further down the road and raised his hand in greeting. His old friend, realising it was Halt approaching, waved and speed up his horse.

"Halt, my old friend, how are you? And where's my son?" Sir David asked cutting to the matter at hand.

"Ah, David, how nice to see you again. Your son has started his test, and if all goes as planned we will meet him tomorrow." Halt said

"I'm sure he'll do well. He's always been quick to pick up new things. I have missed him so much since he left. I had never imagined I would miss him so much, thought I'd be glad to have him out of trouble." David said quite thoughtfully. He had always loved his son, but by God, he was a hard kid to keep in line.

"I'm sure you'll be pleased to know he's doing extremely well as a Ranger. He doesn't admit it, but I can tell he's quite homesick. He'll be glad to see you again." Halt said with a small smile on his face.

It was fully dark by the time Gilan caught up with the bandits. It hadn't been too difficult to track them; the signs they left of their comings and goings were quite obvious, you'd have to blind to miss them. They had just had quite a large headstart. Now that he had found them came the tricky part.

He could see bandits gathered around a campfire in a clearing twenty metres away from the road. From this vantage point, he could see that there were five of them. Less than he had expected. This should be easy. Gilan quickly dismounted Blaze and dropped into a crouch. He pulled the cowl of his cloak up to further mask his movements from the direction of the camp. Slowly, Gilan began to creep forward, taking cover behind trees. When he finally reached the edge of the clearing he took in a deep breath and, before he could change his mind, stepped out of cover and lifted his bow. Taking another breath, he reached for his quiver, removing an arrow. He waited three seconds before attaching the arrow to the bowstring, drawing and releasing.

Time slowed as the arrow flew through the air, searching for its mark. It hit the nearest bandit in the leg as he was rising from his position near the campfire. The thug screamed in pain and went crashing back into the ground, shouting for his friends to search for the culprit. And, that was when Gilan's plan began to backfire. The group of bandits was up in seconds and had spotted him, standing clear of the wood's cover moments later. In a panic, Gilan let fly two more arrows, shooting randomly into the group of bandits and hoping for the best. Sadly, the arrows flew straight past them. Gilan dropped his bow, and drew his saxe, preparing for the first bandit. It was not a long wait; Gilan stabbed forward, hoping he would manage to strike the first of the thugs as he drew closer. The bandit dodged his strike and moved behind the boy. The bandit raised his knife and, seeing he may profit from the action, slammed the handle of the blade into the back of Gilan's head. Gilan, shocked at this sudden turn of events, collapsed to the ground as his world began to fade to black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope to update soon, but am very unreliable with this sort of thing. Hope you enjoyed


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